Asiga’s open operating environment is advancing additive manufacturing

We always knew we wanted to be a primarily digital practice. When I started here, it was all analogue. We were doing traditional denture set-ups in wax and processing in Ivoclar’s IvoBase, followed by analogue chairside conversions over titanium temporary abutments to perform same-day all-on-X surgery.

We knew that there had to be a better way, and it was obvious that transitioning to digital was the way forwards. Now, all of our work is completed digitally and produced with either a 3D printer or milling machine. We utilise powerful CAD software like exocad and tools such as photogrammetry and intra-oral scanning, alongside laboratory scanning, 3D printing and milling.

The Asiga MAX UV was our first major digital purchase, and it completely changed our practice overnight. We were able to start almost eliminating outside laboratory fees because we were able to 3D-print so much. We started off printing things like night guards, surgical guides and immediate dentures, but we quickly moved on to printing our same-day all-on-X provisional dentures alongside provisional crowns and bridges.

I like to use and experiment with many different resins, and that is one of the things that I love about Asiga so much. I hate closed systems, and the Asiga operating environment is as open as you can get. I really like Pac-Dent resins like Rodin Sculpture, Rodin Titan and Rodin Denture Base, as they are aesthetic and very strong. For same-day cases, I usually print with Desktop Health’s Flexcera Smile Ultra+ because I can print it very quickly on the MAX UV, a crucial capability for an all-on-X surgical environment. Asiga technology allows me to print a full-arch restoration in as little as 25 minutes, allowing us to deliver a monolithic restoration straight to multi-unit abutments on the day of surgery.

The MAX UV is an absolute workhorse. It is reliable, accurate and easy to use. It has an incredibly large library of validated resins, so it is very easy to stay up to date in the ever-evolving world of resins. We plan on having at least one MAX UV at every practice we open, and multiple MAX UVs at our main laboratory.

I think that additive manufacturing is going to move increasingly closer to being able to replace milling for final restorations. I think that titanium printing, while in its infancy now, is going to be an absolute game-changer. I look forward to the day when we will be using 3D printers to manufacture a product that is just as strong and aesthetic as zirconia—or maybe even zirconia itself.